


The Green Slime

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: For Order and Justice [6]
Category: Rifts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Genetic Engineering, Humanoid Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-06-26
Updated: 2006-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 07:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Following a devastating battle with genetically modified creatures, a wolfen looks into a group that has been conducting unethical genetic experiments.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rest and Recovery

Sharra largely _looked_ alright after the battle with the Orks, other than the fact that there were only a few small patches of fur remaining to cover spots of her form and that metal had flowed to seal over the smoking remnants of one eye. The heavy and graceless way she moved gave a lie to it, though, and she made no complaint at accepting a little help getting back to the ship.

Nanites were dead, dying, and damaged, and that damage translated itself as a throbbing counterpoint of pain to her, the same system which allowed her to feel other sensations little differently than she had before the conversion. It was the one drawback and danger to the morphic process, and it had been known to drive the victim to insanity on rare occasions. She was, thankfully, well-practiced at managing it.

It would be a few days at least to let her body repair itself, and would require providing some heavy materials for the nanites to work with, but overall she was in a lot better shape than a biological form would be and far more spry and lively than the charred and broken corpse of the creature she'd left behind. She got settled in to rest and start diagnostics, deliberately focusing on vocoder repairs first.

"I'll be alright," she said again, the repairs taking care of the nasty scratching and wavering tone even if it wasn't quite back to her normal mellow modulation, and she switched the focus from the vocoder to the damaged eye. There were only a few non-morphic implants she possessed, but they were important ones. "Any recent reports on the invaders?" she asked to switch the topic away from her injuries.

The recognition that there were a lot of dead innocents added a spike of a different sort of pain. She couldn't understand _why_ this had happened. It had seemed like these Orks were doing it for nothing more than _enjoyment_. Madness...

"I think we've pretty much cleaned up most of them," Jenna reported. "The other Death Dancers are sweeping over the system thoroughly to make sure we didn't miss any. They should be able to take care of it."

"What about the natives?" Sharra asked. "Things didn't looks too good down here, and I'm not sure I want to think about how many were on that station."

Not to mention the cruiser and the many fighters, both Imperial and local that had been destroyed... she really hated this sort of thing, especially bitter as it came on the heels of having stopped another outbreak so damned recently.

"More dead than wounded," Jenna said. "We don't have precise counts on the number of casualties yet... early estimates put it around eight thousand."

Eight thousand... and that would go up when they started sifting through and finding the broken and shattered women and infants, the old and infirm, who were ground under the invaders' tanks.

"Damn," Sharra muttered, "At least the threat looks to be gone now and they can start rebuilding."

Jenna lowered her voice and said darkly, "The modified designs of some of the Orks match up with some Cybion experiments that broke lose from planet Athens several months ago."

"Maybe it's time someone took a closer look at them," Sharra replied. "Yet one more thing they have to answer for now."

There were times when the motivations and actions of sentient beings were enough to rethink her general belief in good, but focusing on it at least helped to dim the echoes still resounding through her and distract from the realities of the damage done to this system and its people.

"Well... all of the Cybions responsible for that particular lapse in judgment were killed by their own experiments," Jenna said. "But it seems to be a common thread among that group, doesn't it."

"Yeah, it does," Sharra agreed wearily, "Even after that there was Klaus tinkering with the same genetic material out on Bristol without a care for what could have come out of it."

Grakalath at least appeared to have been a far more stable creation, but would he have ended up any better than the creatures they'd killed if he and his clones had been turned over to the forces Nihilian had worked with? She doubted it.

"The Cybions take their experiments to the fringe worlds since there aren't as many laws governing genetic experimentation and safety protocols out there..."

Sharra's expression remained blank, more important repairs being attended to than simple appearances, but cold amusement leaks through as she replied, "There's not a lot of places they can hide from the Empress' Own, though. They and the Urians seem to be the biggest problems, and have been from what I've researched. The Euphorians are too busy slaking their own lusts to cause nearly as much trouble."

Jenna nodded in agreement. "Perhaps it's time someone put their foot down and did something about it."

"After all this," Sharra replied grimly, waving a hand in an absent indication of the current situation. "I think I'm more than willing to lend my foot to that purpose. Someone has to do something about it, so we don't see this or something worse again."

"They left Epsilon for not wanting to face Imperial laws that would restrict what they could get away with and put some regulations on their behavior and safety procedures." Jenna snorted. "Who knows how many are out there on some remote world, engineering the next scourge that will devastate the galaxy?"

"Since we're back on standard operational status," Sharra said, "I think we just might have a good enough reason after this to go out and take a look around, see what they're doing on those fringe worlds, and apply that foot where appropriate. Sound reasonable to you?"

"Indeed," Jenna agreed. "They can't be allowed to just do whatever they damned well please without any regard to safety... nor trying to claim ownership of their own sentient creations..."

"I think the Empress has probably gotten more than she'd want to in regards to reports on this mess," Sharra remarked quietly. "And there's not a lot that we can do that isn't already being done for the people out there... so. Time to take a look through the cybernet for any hints, as well as plot a general tour through the fringe worlds to see for ourselves what might be hidden."

"Do you need anything?" Jenna asked, glancing her over critically.

"A few days for repairs and I'll be good as new," Sharra replied. "I'll need to acquire a couple kilograms of raw materials for my systems to work with, the higher refined and dense the better, but other than that..." She shrugged awkwardly. "I've dealt with heavy damage before, it's not pleasant, but I'll survive."

"I'm sure that can be managed." She glanced through the doorway with a bit of a smirk. Zillah was eating another pizza.

Sharra's eye tracked in that direction, then turns expressionlessly back to Jenna. "She can't go out there," she said quietly. "So far she's seen more than she should have, but no little girl should see close up what's left after a major battle like this."

The broken and bleeding wreckage of the survivors, the blank pain of those mourning their loss... all that and more she remembered too vividly from times past. She'd shield Zillah from the worst of it for a while longer, if she could.

Jenna nodded grimly. "Always so eager to be involved." She sighed softly. "Damned Cybions. They would have done the same to me given the chance."

"After seeing their handiwork, and encountering some of their thinking firsthand, I don't doubt it a bit," Sharra agreed. "But there's at least one of their 'experiments' I can do something to help and protect, and I think maybe going to see what the Cybions are up to in general may give her something else to think about too."

It was a complex problem, but one she was more than willing to work at from different angles.

"Let's get out of here as soon as we're ready," Sharra went on, pushing herself back to her feet with an effort that brought a strange hum to the air. "Better to deflect any good-intentioned chances."

Jenna nodded, heading for the cockpit. A report had come in from the Death Dancers indicating that they were 99% certain that the system was clear now, and that the Imperials were heading back to Primus. A squad of Death Dancers would remain on patrol in the system just in case, and humanitarian assistance should arrive from Primus shortly to help the wounded.

Sharra was glad to hear each of those bits of news, though she suspected that any of the foul Orks who survived wouldn't do so for too long... the Predators here had lost homes and family. They'd take great joy in hunting down any stragglers, she was sure. She did stop by her locker to dig into the reserves hidden within, dragging out a small box that contained a few dozen glass cylinders.

They contained various heavy elements and she injected the thick liquid directly to let it start reinforcing the nanites' work. Have to see if this couldn't be replicated here, she mused to herself, then returned everything to its place and heads back for the cockpit. Just to ease her companions, she set a priority on cosmetic repairs. The appearance of wellbeing would return within a short period at least.

"Let's be off, Zillah. There's nothing more we can do here," Jenna said. "They've got the situation well in hand."

Zillah licked some tomato sauce off a finger and took the pilot's seat and said, "Where we heading?"

Sharra shook her head briefly as the metal flowed back from the once-ruined eye-socket, her visual range returning to normal suddenly, and she replied absently, "Hmm, Epsilon station seems like a good launching point. It's far enough out near the border that I'd be surprised if there aren't still contacts with the Cybions there for supplies and other services."

Zillah gave a nod, and took off from the planet, heading toward the jump gate to take them to the Epsilon system. They passed a medical ship painted white with a red plus sign heading toward the third planet. Just in time, Sharra remarked in silence to herself, the hospital ship definitely something she didn't want to arouse Zillah's curiosity over. That could wait a few years yet.

"Hmm, let's see what the cybernet has to say about our dear friends," she murmured, relaxing and letting the repairs proceed at a steady pace, her mind turning with deliberate intensity to the search.

Zillah brought them through the jump gate network as she looked. There was quite a lot of information on the cybernet about the Cybions, which was unsurprising since they created the thing, after all. Many of them cheerfully posted reports about the progress of their various experiments and findings.

Sharra started compiling a list of potential Cybions of interest, cross-referencing their names to the reports they made. Some were undoubtedly relatively harmless, and those she put on a list of ones to simply monitor a bit. It was others that she'd probably take a look at, wince, and place on a short list to find and deal with.

Of particular interest so far as the safety and wellbeing of the galaxy were one who was working on viruses, ostensibly with the claim of working on cures for diseases, the group trying to create the "perfect being", ie physically and mentally "perfect" which meant it listened to them too, a group creating clones just to force them to work in poor conditions with no pay...

Sharra sighed inwardly, examining the list with dismay. How could these people have been left to these projects for so long without some kind of intervention? She corrected that thought sternly, noting that the former Empire hadn't seemed to be too interested in anything but the whims of its emperor and hell with the general good, that change alone made this whole thing worthwhile.

She chewed on the possibilities thoughtfully and shunted some of the information over to Jenna with a query as to her thoughts on it. Personally, it was the last two that she found the most repugnant, but it was the first that had the real and very present danger to cause hell with the general population... whether through an accident or selling some new wonder-virus to the wrong maniac.

Jenna agreed with that assessment, making a bit of a face at the clone-slavery issue. Zillah brought the ship down through the jump gates past Primus and on to Secundus.

Sharra nodded once. "That's a clear enough target to start with, now to dig and see what sort of information can be found as to where they're running their experiments."

She tried not to think of the horrors that the other two groups would be subjecting living, thinking beings to in the meantime, the simple mathematics of necessity were a hard and uncomfortable master.

The notes on the matter were quite thorough, and it was quite clear that they weren't simply working on ways to cure disease either. It went a bit beyond pure negligence in this matter.

Sharra blanched inwardly at the detail involved in the reports. There looked to be enough there to send a fleet to scour a planet down to bedrock and salt the earth back in the three galaxies. This wasn't just negligent, it was insane... She sifted through the data with increasing dismay and disgust, grimly taking any clues for locations that they'd need to investigate along the way or avenues to check into.

These particular experiments appeared to be mainly taking place in the Nuremberg system, on the planet and a couple bases in orbit and on the planet's moon. The most grievous violations of sanity appeared to be the ones taking place on the base located on a moon in orbit of the sixth planet.

"Change in plans, little one," Sharra said absently, the form of address slipping for the first time since Zillah had undergone her trial back in the Three Galaxies. "Set a course for the Nuremberg system, it's time to remind a few people that the hand of reason isn't always constrained by a stated boundary."

The sixth planet's moon would be first, but the others would bear looking into and a clear reminder as well.

Zillah said, "Okay." Once past Imperial space, she opened up a wormhole to the Nuremberg system and flew the ship into it. "What's happening there?"

"Some researchers seem intent on digging into things that most sane governments ban and bury at least as soon as they make it to the stars," Sharra replied quietly. "The possibility of a plague virus that travels from planet to ship to planet, and so on, is the stuff of nightmares, and all it takes is one accident or, more often, one unscrupulous or desperate nation to open the gates of hell."

"We've got an ETA of four hours," Zillah said once they're underway. She returned to finishing her pizza.

That would at least allow full cosmetic and some deeper repairs to complete themselves, Sharra mused, glancing at the back of one hand where the syntheskin was reforming slowly and gaining the first textures of returning fur.

"Plenty of time for a meal and a nap if you need one," Sharra looked over at her. "Probably going to be busy again for a while."

Zillah finished up her food and went to take a short nap along the way. Jenna leaned back and looked over the data readouts, cybernet posts, and such.

Sharra smiled inwardly, pushing recent memory away with the thought of things that still made this whole crazy thing worthwhile. Zillah was a good pup, a reference that she'd made pains to keep to herself since the rite but one that stayed with her nonetheless, and she'd seen and met others along the way that soothed the anger and frustration with the people who seemed intent on the insanity of destruction.

Abram, Emily, Talia, Linda, Katrina... a litany of names that proved there was still _some_ reason left. She let the train of thought soothe her frazzled nerves and take the edge from the slowly receding pain for a while, then returned to her research of the Cybions and their works as a name or two pressed uncomfortably close to deeper examination.


	2. Green Slime

The hours passed by, and Zillah returned again to the pilot's seat as the ship was about to reach their destination, emerging from hyperspace in the Nuremberg system.

Sharra flitted through the ship's sensors as they emerged, her once again furred muzzle wrinkling as a dagger of noise echoed along it before automatic dampeners kicked in. Something else to dedicate immediate attention to, and more worrisome considering how close to irreplaceable parts of herself that particular interface was placed. She pushed aside the momentary distraction and focused on the sensor sweep.

A sensor buoy picked up on their presence and bleeped at them a bit, but no human bothered to challenge them or ask for identification.

"Hmm, take us in toward the sixth planet," Sharra said, then pushed herself up and headed back in the ship. "I'm going to get ready for our tour."

Fur was a perfectly acceptable covering, and it wasn't as if it wasn't all metal beneath, but there tended to be general social standards when it came down to it... and at the end she was most comfortable in her 'uniform' anyway. Good thing she carried spares. The fight hadn't left more than a few ragged scraps to go along with the tattered patches of fur.

The sixth planet was a blue and orange gas giant with an impressive ring system. The Cybion base was located on the fourth moon, a chunk of rock and ice that, at the very least, wasn't a likely place to spread a pandemic from.

Sharra returned shortly as they approach the planet, her appearance normal again at least as she looked out toward the world. "Isolated, that's a plus," she said, "Though that wouldn't mean a hell of a lot if something broke loose and a ship headed out with a panic-stricken and infected survivor." She shook her head. "No, some things just shouldn't be toyed with. Any sort of beacon or comm challenge for approach?"

As they came within range of the planet, an automated signal came over the comm stating that authorization level Gamma or higher (whatever that meant) was required for landing on this planet.

"I don't know," Sharra glanced at Jenna with amusement and continues dryly. "Do you think we have the proper authorization to approach the planet? I'd sure hate to go all this way just to get in trouble with local security."

Jenna snickered. "Even if we weren't Empress's Own, I _do_ have Cybion access level Gamma."

"Oh sure, take all the fun out of it," Sharra snorted lightly, then rested a hand on the back of the pilot's chair. "Take us in, we'll see how much attention they're paying."

She insinuated herself into the sensors again to keep a close eye out for any ship coming to meet them or the faintest flicker of an energy signature that might suggest an automated weapon system arming itself.

They landed on the small docking area near the biodome that made up the base. Heavy sealed double doors separated the landing area from the biodome itself.

"You're the one with the impressive credentials," Sharra quipped, heading for the hatch. "You get to lead the way."

Jenna smirked and climbed out of the hatch, shortly followed by Zillah. She headed over toward the large door and punched in a code into the panel beside it. The door slid open smoothly to allow them access into an atrium with another door. She tapped that one's console as well, and the door behind them closed, then the one in front opened.

Sharra stayed near at hand as they entered, finding no fault with the containment measures they seemed to be employing so far. Still, what were they thinking to be stirring up this devil's brew in the first place? Weren't there already enough ways to kill each other? She stepped past as the inner door opened and took a quick look around.

The interior of the biodome contained several buildings, laboratories, storage sheds, and on-site quarters for those working here. Outside the buildings were rows of plants growing under artificial lighting. Tomatoes and potatoes grew in neat rows, and further out in small beds were foxglove, oleander, lilies, and other plants.

"One of these must be an administration building," Sharra said, examining the array of structures closely, then shrugged. "Take a look around and get a feel for the place until we find it."

The closest thing they found to an administration building was the largest building there, which contained terminals, tables, chairs, and a replicator, with a corridor leading off to quarters.

"Hmm," Sharra mused. "Either we've stumbled into the place while everyone's on vacation, or it's the middle of the workday. Somehow I'm betting on the last, so time to dig up the labs."

Jenna nodded in agreement, and headed out toward the closest lab. Inside there was a middle-aged woman working with various lab equipment. She wasn't wearing any protection gloves or gear, but considering her metallic hands she probably didn't need it.

Sharra approached the woman, glancing around at the lab and its array of equipment, and stopped nearby. "Hello," she offered in greeting. "I wonder if I might bother you for a bit of your time?"

"One moment," she said, finishing up what she was doing carefully and sealing it away. She then went over to them and said, "What do you need?"

"My name's Sharra," she offered by way of introduction, having patiently waited as the woman had asked, not wanting to chance whatever concoction might be in the works. "And my companions are Zillah and Jenna of the Jordan line. We've been hearing some... interesting things about the work going on out here, and I was wondering if you'd care to explain it a bit for me." Polite so far, but the hint of waiting change underlay it.

"Oh, certainly. We're working on making advancements in toxicology and analysis of viruses and bacteria at this laboratory. We are attempting to determine why the human body reacts as it does to various foreign agents, and how it might be altered to make it more resilient against them. I can show you around the place if you like."

"I see," Sharra replied thoughtfully. The bland and precise explanation seemed perfectly reasonable and rational, but there were a few things that begged to be asked, such as just how they were _testing_ these toxins for human reaction and what experiments they might be performing to achieve their goal of resistance... "I'd appreciate a guide," she answered the offer with a thin smile. "Sounds interesting."

The woman proceeded to show them around the lab, indicating what was going on at each of the stations, what experiments might be in progress. Over here they were testing some new strain of algae which had been made more resilient to toxins, down in the next room she saw a body in a vat that looked human aside from the fact that it had no head, hooked up to numerous tubes and sensors.

Sharra stopped and peered in at the body, realizing that this was an example of how they were testing their projects. It was... bizarre and perhaps a bit distasteful, but certainly better than other options and things she'd seen in the past. She paid polite attention to the woman's explanations, interrupting only now and again for a point of clarification.

"What do you see as your final goal?" Sharra asked at last.

"We intend to at some point in the future be able to create humans, plants, and other animals which are highly resistant to various toxins biologically without requiring cybernetic enhancement."

Sharra nodded, the idea a laudable one to a point, though she wasn't so sure that humans as a whole would take well to mass re-engineering for any reason. "What sorts of biological agents are you working with?" she asked. "Typical naturally occurring ones, or synthesized virals as well?"

"Outside you may have seen our gardens with various plants that we use for such purposes," she explained. "We also have some holding areas with venomous snakes, frogs, and such as well. So far as diseases you see here our holding areas with chicken pox, strains of influenza, the common cold, and such."

Sharra nodded in acknowledgement, everything sounding so terribly reasonable and yet a worm worrying at her that there was something else. Was it just her distrust due to what she'd seen of other Cybions, or something she just hadn't pinned down yet?

"Have their been many interesting breakthroughs in the process?" Sharra asked. "Or anything unexpected to come out of it?"

"Oh, certainly. Dr. Henderson is working on one of those over in lab 4."

"Would it be alright to take a look over there?" Sharra inquired.

"Certainly." She directed them over toward that building, set off away from the others somewhat.

Sharra thanked her and headed in the direction given, working at the natural suspicion that had a tendency to color her judgment and deliberately pushing it down. Investigate thoroughly, yes, but do it with an open mind, damn it! Just because you hadn't seen a Cybion scientist yet who wasn't crazed didn't mean they didn't exist... in theory.

Over in lab 4, she saw a man with goggles working with a vat of green slime, poking at it with instruments thoughtfully.

"Doctor Henderson?" Sharra inquired politely, then looks at the sludge curiously and wonders what he was doing with it.

He glanced up nervously and said, "Oh, we have visitors. I wasn't informed."

Sharra smiled, though noted the nervousness and wonders if it was by nature or something more immediate. "I was just over talking to one of your colleagues, she was showing me around a bit and I was quite impressed. She said," her head tilted and attention shifted to the slime, "that you were working with an interesting branch of the toxin research being done here. Is... that it?"

"Er, yes, yes, of course," he said. "This is a most fascinating project, it is revolutionary, and it shall change civilization as we know it!"

Sharra was suddenly uneasy again, remembering similar enthusiasm from Dr. Klaus about his most recent project. She approached the doctor and his subject warily, still looking at the stuff. "What exactly is it?" she asked, "What sort of 'revolution' are you envisioning?"

"This is project codename 'Green Slime'." he explained. "It is completely impervious to all forms of chemical and biological toxins, but it is very much alive, a sort of algae really. But since it is constantly growing and regenerating itself with matter it comes into contact with, viral and bacterial agents have little effect upon it either."

Sharra blinked and looked at the doctor. "You mean it eats things, gets bigger as it does so, and it's immune to toxins. Just, uh, what can this thing eat? And what else might it be immune to?" There were other questions too, a lot of them, but right now she was just a little bit weirded out.

"It is capable of consuming whatever form of organic matter it comes into contact with. It excretes acids when it consumes a creature that allow it to digest it much in the same way that a person's stomach would."

"Ah, I see," Sharra replied, looking back at the sludge again. It was one thing to think about an animal eating another, but this stuff? That verged on a bit creepy... She tore her gaze away from it and asked with morbid fascination, "And just how is this going to change civilization as we know it, as you put it?"

"Well, it'll replace the human race of course. Humans are so outdated. This! This is perfection."

"This will replace humans..." Sharra muttered drawing nearer and crouching down to take a closer look at the stuff, then looked aside to the doctor with her ears cocked in perplexity. "It's intelligent, then?"

"Well, not really so much yet, but it shall evolve and grow and gain capacity quickly far beyond that which humans are capable of."

Sharra filed this one under the 'crazy crackpot' category, though not necessarily harmless if this stuff had sufficient growth potential. "Okay," she said, straightening and wiping her hands unconsciously on her pants as though she'd touched the slime. "So we're looking at the next evolutionary champion, what do you plan on doing with it?"

"Doing? Well, nurturing it and analyzing it and observing it and such. Here, watch." He plucked out a lab rat and tossed it into the vat. The slime spurted up and surrounded the squeaking, squirming rat and surrounds it, then slowly pulled it under. He indicated on the instruments what was happening inside.

Sharra glanced to the instruments to see, but her attention kept getting drawn back to the inevitable demise of the rodent. She wondered just how far off the deep end someone would have to be to consider this... she shook herself and returned her attention to the doc with a quirked grin.

"But what about tool use?" Sharra asked. "That would seem to be somewhat difficult."

"I'm working on that. Soon it shall be capable of extending semi-solid pseudopods with which it will be able to manipulate equipment and components."

Sharra changed his classification from 'crackpot' to 'potentially dangerous crackpot', the idea of slime slithering through the halls and extending pseudopods to open the doors and get at the people inside... egh, talk about old horror movie material! Where did the Cybions keep _getting_ these people?

"You haven't taken a look at an open-air experiment with this, have you?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh, no, of course not," he said. "Everything's nicely set to seal up if something goes terribly wrong."

"Ah, that's reassuring," Sharra replied, though still uneasy about the doc as safety features could be overridden with the authorization and proper knowledge. "And how did this, uh, miraculous discovery rise out of the other work being done here?"

"Oh, we were attempting to breed a form of algae that could resist the toxins released into the atmospheres of many Primo planets over the centuries..."

"Looking to find something to counteract the pollution, I assume," Sharra replied with a nod. She accessed the cybernet and pulls up whatever references she could find on the good doctor, the similarities to Dr. Klaus all too alarmingly real for her tastes.

Apparently, Dr. Henderson is Dr. Klaus's third cousin twice removed, but that was probably neither here nor there. He was genetically modified slightly, born in the fringe worlds, and been working with the Cybions on all his life.

Sharra's eyes narrow at the suddenly horrific image of a horde of Klaus clone-relatives or kindred souls working happily away in chambers like this one all over the fringe worlds and coming up with the old gods alone knew what... She shook the image off with a shudder and returned her attention to the doc and managed a feeble smile.

"And has anything else 'interesting' turned up from this research?" she asked.

"Oh, plenty of things. Unfortunately we couldn't find a good use for the smallpox monkeys or the acid-spraying frogs."

The smile felt like it's about to shatter at the offhanded response, but Sharra managed to maintain a level tone as she nodded. "Sounds intriguing. Would there happen to be a place I could take a look at the things that have been going on around here more directly? Computer record, that sort of thing?"

"Oh, that terminal over there has all my records in it," he said, pointing vaguely and turning his attention back to the slime.

Sharra didn't even bother to hide the odd look she gave the man as he turned back, having the distinct impression that she could run through here nude and on fire only to get the barest reaction or attention away from the slime. She headed for the terminal to take a look at what the odd little man had been up to.

Apparently, quite a lot of potentially dangerous and ill-advised things. Sharra rubs her temple and gestured Jenna over to take a look as well, her expression torn between disgust, horror, and exasperation at the people who left crazy ones like this loose. Jenna looked over the man's notes, and made some very interesting expressions at it.

"Thank you, Dr. Henderson," Sharra said, moving away from the terminal and heading for the door. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon."

There were other things she wanted to see and check on here before making any sudden moves, and it would be far easier to examine as an outsider than as an enforcer. He didn't respond, engrossed in his experiment. The Jordans followed her, Zillah staring oddly at the slime as she went and making a face.

Sharra waited until they left the lab, then shook her head. "Definitely be seeing him again before we leave. I don't think I'll have a single problem with destroying that slime, either."

Her muzzle wrinkled in distaste, then she turned and headed for another of the lab buildings. One of the researchers was clearly dangerous. She would make sure of the others one by one. Jenna concurred. The next building contains several more vats with the headless humans in them, sitting swimming in different colored liquids. Some of them didn't look too well. There was a man working here looking over the readouts.

"Hello," Sharra offered in polite greeting, feeling like a traveling salesman with all the greeting and smiling she'd been doing lately, and the thought almost made her laugh. The urge was stifled, though a hint of the amusement peeked through the smile that emerged. "I've been looking around the complex a bit and talking to some of the researchers, just left Dr. Henderson in fact. Might I trouble you for a little of your time?"

"Oh. What do you need? Is this an inspection?"

"Call it a fact-finding tour," Sharra replied. "I'm working for someone with a considerable interest in the work being done out here, but my employer wants to know a bit more about what's really being pursued and accomplished here before making any decision."

There, a neat enough cover, especially since it was the truth. Let him assume she was talking about a prospective investor or something like that, if he wished.

"Yes, of course," he said. "In this laboratory, we are testing various new designs and their resistance to different harmful agents."

Sharra nodded. "Yes, I've seen some of that elsewhere so far. What sort of harmful agents are you testing?"

He ran by each vat, describing what each of the beings within was being subjected to. Sharra followed along, listening as intently as she had with the first researcher and finding the return to normalcy very soothing after Dr. Henderson's bizarre behavior.

"So all that you're testing are recognized and known chemical and viral agents?" she asked, "No special or custom designs being cooked up to further expand the research?"

"Not generally, although I'm not sure what Henderson is up to sometimes..."

Sharra thought that he probably wouldn't want to know, considering _she_ didn't really want to know! "Thank you very much." She smiled. "Is there anyone else you'd suggest I talk to before reporting back to my employer?"

"Well, Dr. Shafer's been working on some new strains of disease-resistant plants, if you're interested in agriculture at any rate..."

"Really?" Sharra replied. "I'll certainly do that. There's always a use for improvements in food production for any system. Thank you again." She nodded politely to him and headed back out, waiting until they were outside before saying. "Overall, this looks relatively sane. It makes me wonder why they've set up shop outside the protective sphere of the Empire." Dr. Henderson being an exception, of course.

"Well, it looks like it's been here for a while," Jenna said. "The Empire wasn't really very tolerant of the Cybions during the reign of the Usurper."

"Hmm," Sharra murmured, looking around and tapping her fingers. "Considering what I've seen so far, I'd almost be tempted to recommend investing some support out here. There's the plant aspect that could prove very useful in hydroponic settings, or even on otherwise useless and poisonous worlds, and some of the other research could do the same for colonization without full terraforming."

Jenna nodded. "Not so bad really, no. Not as completely out there as some of the ones I've seen at any rate. Doing something halfway useful. Except, of course, for our dear Dr. Henderson."

Sharra wagged a finger. "Something has to be done about that one. I agree wholeheartedly. The question is who I'd talk to here who might be helpful in deciding _what_..." She grinned crookedly. "It wouldn't exactly do much for potential relations to make off with one of their researchers under force of arms, now would it?"

Jenna shrugged. "I don't know. Political considerations were hardly ever my strong suit."

Sharra donned a pained expression, one of mock hurt. "And you're saying that it's mine? How cruel!" She chuckled softly, expression smoothing. "I do have occasional moments of sanity, though. Hmm, I think the lady we spoke with first would be a good candidate to confer with."

She headed back in the direction of the lab they'd first examined, idly digging out her ring and turning it in her fingers.

The woman glanced up from her notes again as they returned and said, "Can I help you with something else?"

Sharra nodded. "Maybe you can. I came here originally looking for signs of anything that might prove dangerous and possibly leak out to the spaceways. What I've seen since arriving, however, has made me change my overall opinion of this place and think that my employer might be favorably interested in what's going on here... with one exception."

"I can guess," she said dryly. "Are you here to arrest Dr. Henderson and eradicate his silly slime?"

Sharra grinned and held the signet ring up for inspection. "Taking a look at things and keeping an eye out for trouble is my stock in trade, you might say. Dr. Henderson reminds me unfortunately of a Dr. Klaus, a distant relative of his, and both possessing the same apparently total disregard for the possible dangers inherent in what they're doing."

She dropped the ring back in her pocket and held her hands out from her sides.

"I was being honest when I said my employer might be interested in this place, though, and I wouldn't want to cause trouble that would make that more difficult for everyone involved. So, I came to ask an expert opinion."

The woman smirked a bit, not appearing the least surprised at the assessment of Henderson. "What is it?"

"I think Dr. Henderson would, if his current slime project is any indication," Sharra began, and couldn't resist a look of distaste at the memory, "constitute a potential and very real danger. Dr. Klaus was recently remanded to the custody of certain authorities so that he could be carefully watched, and I think the good doctor might benefit from the same opportunity. It would be within the realm of reason for him to be spirited away." She shrugged. "Certainly wouldn't be the first time, nor likely the last that such an operation was performed. However, I don't want to disrupt what might be a valuable asset by taking a precipitous action on the matter. What would this facility's reaction be to his removal, for his own safety as well as that of others, and my peace of mind?"

"Oh, yes, it would greatly disrupt operations here as we broke out the balloons and party hats."

Sharra couldn't help but laugh at that, though it broke off abruptly as she winced. "I think that can be arranged," she replied, composing herself. "And I'll be more than happy to pass along a recommendation of the work going on here to my employer. Would you have any insight to any of the other activities in the system? Or are they equally-independent of each other?"

"Well, the larger scale projects are taking place over on the third planet," she said. "The better of our plant samples go to them and they test them on a wide scale to make sure there's no issues with them."

Sharra nodded thoughtfully. "So the system is a network dedicated to the research that you perform here? And please tell me you haven't let Dr. Henderson send any samples off..." She chuckled.

"Oh, certainly not. We didn't deem it 'safe for transport'," the woman said with a smirk. "The other stations are doing their own various researches, but we keep in touch."

"Would you be willing to show me some of the things they've been doing?" Sharra asked, tilting her head. "I was concerned that there might be something far more virulent brewing out here, if you'll pardon the pun, and getting an insider's view on it would do wonders toward strengthening the case for support."

The woman was happy enough to show her some of the things they'd been doing, bringing up displays and data on a terminal and explaining what was going on there. Sharra wasn't a theorist or dedicated scientist, but she probably picked up a great deal of what was shown to her simply through the advanced and wide-spanning base of knowledge she'd acquired over the years due to formal training as well as experience.

She paid close attention, and if something went past her she'd interrupt and ask questions, looking to get a good grasp on the overall setting and a general impression. Much of it was benign enough and the more dangerous projects took place under close safeguards, such as the ones on this moon. The only modified viruses they were working with were ones pre-programmed with a kill switch if they got out of control.

Sharra dipped her muzzle in thought, eyes scanning the data being provided, and finally looked up and nodded. "What I'm seeing," she said, "is a reasonable, well thought out enterprise, with a great deal of potential in terms of what it might produce, whether for more esoteric avenues as genetic manipulation or more mundane such as pollution control and adaptations for hostile environments." Offering a grin, she continued, "Once Dr. Henderson is removed from the equation, I think I can safely assure that you won't have to worry about someone like me kicking in the door any time soon. Though I wouldn't place any bet that you won't be hearing from someone on a business level in the near future."

The woman chuckled softly. "Well, I'm happy to hear that at least. We generally try not to do anything too stupid out here, unlike those fools who were experimenting with the Ork DNA without proper safeguards."

Sharra's expression turned grim at that. "Considering recent events, I'd very much like to find every one of the people like that and inform them of the error of their ways." She turned away, one fist clenching, and then forced it to relax as she quietly said, "I suppose that Dr. Henderson will have to do, for a start."

"I'm sure they realize the error of it as they're all dead now," she sighed. "Be sure to use chlorine on the slime, otherwise it'll resist energy weapons."

"Thank you," Sharra managed to offer a thin smile again. "We'll go take care of that now and let you get back to your research. It was a pleasure to meet you."

With a final nod, she turned and headed back for Dr. Henderson's lab. The scientist returned to her work, and the Jordans continued to follow her back there. Henderson was engrossed in his experiment deeply and didn't notice them come in.

Sharra smirked and looked over at Zillah. "Remember Dr. Klaus? I think you can handle this one the same way. Jenna and I'll take care of vacuuming out the data and disposing of... things."

Zillah grinned a bit and headed over toward him. Jenna snickered and went over to the terminal to get to work. Sharra could almost feel sorry for the doc, almost, and she dug around to find some cleaning chemicals, specifically bleach. That slime _had_ to go. She wasn't sure just what it was that was so disturbing about it, but it really sparked a shivering loathing. Too many horror movies or something.

Jenna proceeded to clean out the records of Henderson's experiments, to make sure some damned fool didn't decide to try to duplicate this thing. Sharra heeded the other woman's advice, dosing the thing liberally with bleach before setting to destroy it with a definite glow of satisfaction. The doc would just have to live without his up and coming replacement for the species!

Henderson sputtered indignantly as a thirteen year old girl put him under arrest, smiling innocently all the while, and looked over to Sharra saying, "My slime! My slime! Oh no!"

"Sorry doc," Sharra replied, setting the container aside after dousing the thing and waiting a little bit to let it absorb the pale liquid. "I'm afraid that the tool users of the universe are going to have to veto the rising of your new master race."

Whistling tunelessly, she took out the short rifle and set it to discharge a stream of flame that she turned on the thing without remorse. The chlorine in the bleach reacted with the slime's cells, and although it didn't harm it itself, it did deactivate its natural defenses long enough for Sharra's weapons to hurt it. One could swear the thing squealed as it evaporated.

Sharra continued to fire until there was no trace left other than ash in the thing's container, then stirred through the ash to make _sure_ that nothing was left. After being rather thorough about it, it was apparent that every last drop of slime had been burned away and unless he was keeping a jar of it somewhere else, it wasn't coming back.

Sharra returned the rifle to its holster and crosses over to see how Jenna was faring with her work. "The power of the opposable thumb," she remarked quietly and grinned, looking back toward the slime. "So how's it going?"

Jenna held up a datapad and said, "Got it all here, and off the computer."

"Time to let these people get to their going-away party then, I think." Sharra chuckled and headed for the door, inviting Zillah and her captive along with a tilt of her head.

Zillah prodded him along, and he followed reluctantly, whining all the while.

"I wonder if we should put out a general bounty on any of Drs. Klaus and Henderson's relations?" Sharra asked with quiet amusement. "There does seem to be a lot of similarity in the line between those two, all the way down to the pitch of their whines."

"Hey, you leave my cousin Mildred out of this," he muttered.

"Oh dear," Sharra replied. "It seems there's someone else to take a look at soon."

A scan on the cybernet was quickly undertaken as she led the way back to the Firefly. Apparently Mildred Henderson was quite the homemaker, and had designed a whole new series of carnivorous plants to keep the home insect-free.

Sharra groaned aloud and looked at the doc with an accusing expression. "Does insanity run naturally in your family, or do you train in it?"

The hatch opened at her command and she ushered them back within, giving the man another exasperated look. He didn't deign to reply, climbing aboard reluctantly with a sigh. Zillah smirked a bit and poked him again before taking the pilot's seat.

Sharra grabbed him by the elbow. "Come on, doc, we'll get you settled in for a nice little trip."

She led him back to a cabin to stash him out of sight and mind for a while. Happy thoughts of rubber rooms and white coats danced in her mind concerning his future.

Zillah brought them back toward the edge of Imperial space flying along through the wormhole, whilst reading over things and listening to some quiet music.

Sharra returned from securing the doctor in the rear of the ship, torn between amusement and revulsion. The two relatives she'd already encountered were of a kind, and she just had to chuckle at the absentmindedness of their approach, but the paths of their research were something potentially very far from amusing... Slime to replace the sentient races of the universe? She shuddered at the thought.

Stiffly she settled back in for the trip to Toronto, the inner echoes reminding her to slip into the onboard computer and check on the capabilities of the replicator that had been installed. It was important to know if it was capable of synthesizing the heavy metallic brew that served as her primary source of raw materials when it came to repairs. She might be difficult to damage, but it wasn't impossible.

The replicator was capable of crafting items made from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and other common light elements, but it couldn't manage much of the heavier items nor the more complex materials such as luminite. To be expected from a small shipboard replicator. She'd need one of the heavy industrial replicators at Epsilon for the serious replication business.

That wasn't too terrible an inconvenience, Sharra admitted, as Epsilon was easily reached and seemed to be a crossroads for many of the places they'd have an interest in going. The limitations revealed, when cross-checked with the complex atomic structure of the material in question showed that a trip there would be necessary when her current stockpile began to be exhausted.

That avenue explored, she compiled a report on the Nuremberg system including the raw footage of the various interviews along with her impressions of the people and projects involved. She concluded with speculation as to the possible benefits to the various sectors of commerce and social sectors, then wrapped it up and set it aside for transmission when they got to Toronto. It could be delivered without disturbing the Empress, and the good doctor delivered into the hands of the security forces that had taken in Dr. Klaus.

Some hours later, they arrived back in the Toronto system once again. Zillah finished up reading a lengthy and dry biology text while listening to light 80s music. Sharra looked up as they enter the system, breaking out of some research on the cybernet into one of the other nasty little projects that she'd noticed before, and snorted in light amusement as she found she'd been tapping along to the music's beat. She rolled her eyes and grinned.

"Take us in and we can drop off the good doctor, then head back out," Sharra said.

Probably wouldn't hurt to drop a query along with the report, to see if there was anything that had happened in the interim that the Empress wanted looked into. Zillah put them down and Jenna went to check on the doctor, who was poking at a bit of replicated food with far too much interest.

Sharra transmitted her report along with the query, then headed back for the doctor. She looked at him suspiciously and made a note to check just _what_ he'd been replicating, then laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, doc, time to get you safely stowed away. Maybe you'll luck out and see Dr. Klaus along the way." She wasn't sure whether that would be good or bad luck for the other people around them...

He grumbled a bit and follows along. A reply came over the cybernet shortly indicating there was nothing urgent that needs looked into, as well as a commendation for her work in fighting off the Ork invasion in Kenya.

Heading for the hatch and making sure the doctor didn't forget where he was and get lost along the way, Sharra dropped a note to Zillah to check on the replicator. She was a sharp one and it'd give her something to do in the meantime... Sharra grinned to herself as she sent the message, realizing she'd coming to enjoy the flexibility and ease of using the cybernet. Zillah proceeded to check the replicator logs and make sure he hadn't tampered with it or anything.

That done, she headed for the local security branch. The nearby military security center was right where it was before.

"Have his research notes on hand?" Sharra asked Jenna, looking over the man's head. "The last time I handed similar things over they practically leapt to take Dr. Klaus off my hands."

Jenna held up her datapad and said, "Yup, it's all right here."

Sharra grinned and glanced at the doc, imagining the wailing and gnashing of teeth he was doubtlessly doing mentally, and all over slime! She smirked and headed into the building to approach the desk in the entryway.

"Hello, Sharra of the Empress' Own reporting in with a person of interest," she said.

At the desk she found a female Chimpanzee wearing a uniform. This particular breed of Furry was apparently less modified than most. She glanced over toward the disgruntled prisoner and said, "Yes, of course." She tapped at the terminal and said, "What's he in for?"

Sharra motioned Jenna forward. "His research notes will probably speak for themselves, but a basic comparison to Dr. Armin Klaus is a good reference. Dr. Henderson here has been performing some rather interesting experiments which could prove hazardous to the public good, and would probably do much better with supervision." 

The chimp took the datapad Jenna handed her and filed it away, entering the records into the terminal and calling in some guards to take him away.

"Good luck, Dr. Henderson," Sharra offered politely as he was escorted off, then dipped her muzzle to the entry processor. "Thank you very much. Have a good day."

Small enough task, but that tended to be the bulk of this sort of work, and really the better aspect of it... events like the Kenya system did not a happy wolfen make.

Dr. Henderson grumbled some more as he was taken away by the guards.

The chimp asked, "Is there anything else or is that all for the moment?"

"That's all for now, though we'll probably be back soon enough," Sharra replied. "There's always someone looking to cause trouble."


End file.
